Day 137

1 Samuel 20:1–21:15; John 9:1-41; Psalm 113:1–114:8; Proverbs 15:15-17

EVEN AS WE watched King Saul continue to spiral out of control because of his passionate jealousy of David, we also saw David holding on to God for dear life. “I swear to you that I am only a step away from death!” David told his closest friend, Jonathan. “I swear it by the LORD and by your own soul!” (1 Samuel 20:3).

Jonathan would soon learn how true this was. After Saul discovered that Jonathan had helped keep David out of harm’s way, he had a few choice things to say: “You stupid son of a whore! . . . Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!” (1 Samuel 20:30-31).

Moments later, Saul hurled a spear at Jonathan. For the second time, Saul was willing to kill his own son.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth on the Sabbath day. This miracle quickly got the attention of the local Pharisees, who were divided about it. “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath,” some said. Others countered, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” (John 9:16).

The Pharisees intently questioned the healed man. They wanted to know exactly what Jesus had done to return his sight to him. Next, they questioned the man’s parents. Then, for a second time, they interrogated the formerly blind man. “We know this man Jesus is a sinner,” they told him.

“I don’t know whether he’s a sinner or not,” the man replied. “All I know is that I was blind and now I can see.”*

The Pharisees asserted their allegiance to Moses and dismissed Jesus because He didn’t appear to be part of their tradition. “We don’t even know where this man comes from,” they said (John 9:29).

“‘Why, that’s very strange!’ the man replied. ‘He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it’” (John 9:30-33).

This response got the man tossed out of the synagogue. A little later, Jesus found him, and the man believed in Jesus. “I entered this world to render judgment,” Jesus said. “To give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind” (John 9:39). Of course, this ruffled the Pharisees, who stepped forward and asked if Jesus was claiming they were blind.

“‘If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,’ Jesus replied. ‘But you remain guilty because you claim you can see’” (John 9:41).

There is much for us to consider here. Jesus messed with the theological understanding of the Pharisees when He healed on the Sabbath. At the same time, no one could rightfully claim that the blind receiving sight wasn’t an act of God. They were in a theological and traditional quandary, and rather than simply acknowledging God’s goodness, they fell back on their tradition and denounced Jesus.

There are more types of blindness than lacking the physical sense of sight. The Pharisees were spiritually blind to what God was doing among them because it conflicted with their theological understanding of God. But God is much bigger than our theological understanding of Him, and He will disrupt that understanding whenever He chooses. The theological disagreements we have with one another have purpose when we’re deeply searching for the truth. But they have little value when they are nothing more than our veiled attempts to be right and appear closer to God. He loves us all. We’re going to have to learn to do the same. Battling over our personal doctrine isn’t going to draw us closer to God. And the closer we become to God, the more we realize how little we actually know. Jesus gives us a beautiful invitation to receive sight where we are blind and to know Him beyond our formulas.

MEDITATION:

Better to have little, with fear for the LORD, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.